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On September 11, 2001, I was sitting next to Karen in an Ethics class at ACU. As Randy Harris began class, a student came in and said that something had happened... he had heard it on the radio as he rode his bike to class. But we still didn't know what exactly, because only the first plane had hit.

We headed over to the campus center after class where we saw a friend who was angry and in shock and in a hurry. He shouted a few brief details as he walked away. We went on and saw students packed into the campus center like sardines, nearly silent, staring at the televisions.

I went to check in at my next class on my way home. The teacher (TA) told us we were to stay in class because "this will be on television for days." I stayed until a classmate got a phone call from her husband, stationed at Dyess, telling her to come home right away.

At that, I remember looking up into the sky, wondering what was next and really, really wanting to throw up.

And for once in ACU history, chapel was quiet.

That day and the days that followed were filled with conversations you hope you never have. Like should my sister get out of the DFW area, should our parents be further from Houston, should their parents get out of Nashville, and where is the "important papers" file at the house. It was the only time I had ever heard my father sound shaken.

I think of the impact that day had on those of us who were hundreds of miles away and didn't know a victim and couldn't do a whole lot to help - and I think of how that only scratches the surface of the impact it had on those who witnessed the attack and lost loved ones and volunteered to look for others.

I am struck by the array of perspectives through which that day was experienced; the passengers on the planes, the employees in the buildings, air traffic controllers, the guy who designed the WTC towers, the president, college students, foreign tourists, the owner of that Pennsylvania field, the media, children of all ages... and in a completely different way, the terrorists.

And because of those perspectives... We pack our bags differently before we fly. We don't mind nearly as much when we stand in long security lines at airports. And you probably give your fellow passengers the once-over as you board a plane. Or maybe that's just me. Those perspectives changed the way we travel, the way emergency responders communicate with each other, the way we handle immigration, the way we monitor suspicious folks, and on and on and on.

The ripple effects of September 11, 2001 amaze me. As a sociologist, I can't get enough of it. I am fascinated by the way our lives are all connected to the lives of other people and the decisions they make.

Because of terrorists on the other side of the world, 3,000 people died five years ago.
Because of that, B turned his life upside down to become a soldier.
Because of that, his seat was next to mine on an airplane two years later.
Because of that, I have had a humbling glimpse into courage and sacrifice.